Tempe, AZ, October 26, 2016 – As part of Arizona Manufacturing Month, Titan Industries and LAI International hosted a team of additive manufacturing experts from the U.S. Navy. Eleven experts from six naval commands briefed an audience of over 30 participants from the AZ Tech Council Committee on Additive Manufacturing (AM) on the U.S. Navy AM strategy and how the industry can help advance this technology to help the warfighter.

Experts from Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), and Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (DASN RDT&E) outlined current and planned activities for AM as well as gaps and obstacles to the Department of Defense (DoD) and AM industry. Jonathan Leggett, Outreach Coordinator for the NAVSEA SBIR Program also presented a short overview of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.

The panel discussion concluded with a Q&A session where AZ businesses posed questions to naval officials on how they could contribute to advancing AM technology and its application in the Navy including future funding opportunities from the Navy and other Department of Defense commands.

This panel discussion was part of the Navy AM team’s 3-day tour of Arizona where they visited several AM leader industries including Boeing, Honeywell, Orbital ATK, Raytheon, Arizona State University, University of Arizona, PADT, Methods 3D, and LAI/Titan. This event is the first in a planned series of events to familiarize the Department of Defense and other government agencies with the Additive Manufacturing capability of Arizona businesses.